


the softness of your touch made me fall (completely)

by rooxynroll



Series: cats' love [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cat Lovers, Cats, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Like Literal Fluff, M/M, Nekoma, Really lots of cats, Self-Indulgent, This should be named CATS ou FURS idk, Yaku is a catmama, and i love him, and so does Lev, hints of kuroken idk maybe, i just love nekoma very much, i've become a human marshmallow, this is my legacy tbh, this is them in a nutshell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-15 01:29:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9213287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rooxynroll/pseuds/rooxynroll
Summary: Yaku Morisuke really likes cats. So much he never felt like sharing this information with his teammates before.Haiba Lev, however, insists on rescuing cats before morning practices.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nessmon23](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nessmon23/gifts).



> First of all, this will probably be a series. 1 - because I love cats. 2 - because I love YakuLev/LevYaku. 3 - because I love cats AND YakuLev/LevYaku.  
> So, any promps or anything you'd like to see in this AU (is it an alternate universe, really? I don't think so lol) feel free to request it. I'm already working on a First Date thingy, heh.
> 
> This was a gift to a dear friend Aggie that totally accepted my headcanon about Yaku being a cat mom. (Yaku's stage play actor may or may not have something to do with this) (Who Am I Kidding every time he posts a photo of his cats online I Die.)  
> Without further ado...

Mornings start with a raspy little tongue licking his cheek. Shin, a beautiful Russian blue, always sleeps on top of his owner, Yaku Morisuke. Being the youngest cat of the family, he’s still adapting to the house, finding comfort in the proximity to the human that feeds him.

Eiko and Cho are Japanese bobtails, and always nearby, too, sometimes sleeping on Morisuke’s pillow, but mostly nesting on the carpet near his futon bed.

Rin is a persian, Sora is a siamese and Fuku is a ragdoll. They like the bathroom better, which makes it really crowded for Mori in the mornings, when they are usually asleep and he has to find new ways to do his morning routine everyday.

Nobu is an himalayan and Yuki is a balinese. Both are always up the wardrobe, paws hanging at the corner just so Mori can see that they are there.

Mochi… well, who knows about her. She is a Turkish Angora, snow-white; that is, when she doesn't run off and returns with mud and grass all over her furr. 

Tora is an american shorthair, and he is always at the kitchen. Mori’s mom says he's the real owner of the kitchen, and all the family asks permission before entering what they now call Tora’s kingdom.

He’s not really sure about his cats races, because they were all either adopted from shelters or found abandoned by his neighborhood. Either way, he knows enough about cats to find which race they are closer too, and that's all that matters.

If they are all stray, that doesn't matter either.

Shin follows him to the front door, every day. He sits by the door in a Sphinx fashion, seeing Mori off. He stops a second to check if everyone has food on their plates, and if the water is good.

Then, he smiles and go on his way to Nekoma High.

Mori arrives at the gymnasium that day a little later than usual because Mochi was stuck in a bush by the corner of their house. He has some scratches on his arm, but they only remind him of Mochi’s “Oops I did it again please help me oh great master” face, which also happens to be adorable.

Mori scolds her, anyway, but it makes him feel warm inside.

“Yaku-san! Yaku-san!” Shouts greet him, filling the court.

“Lev found another cat.” Kenma half-says, half-sighs, playing his PSP while practice doesn't starts because of a certain half-russian japanese boy.

“We’ll take him to the shelter after practice, Lev.” Mori says the first thing it comes to his mind, before Lev starts telling the whole story of how he found the poor cat.

“But where will he stays all this time,Yaku-san? He’s hurt! We can't leave him around!”

‘Hurt?’ He takes a closer look, walking the final steps to where Lev is. Mori can see how worried Lev actually is, and it makes it harder to avoid his stupid babbling. 

“Right. I can take him now.”

Lev, being white as a paper, blushes way too hard for a kouhai troubling his senpai. Mori is already sighing when Lev finds his voice to answer. 

“No, I didn't mean to trouble yo…”

“Wait, I’ll call someone and see if they can pick up the cat. Go practice, Lev.”

“O-osu! Thank you, Yaku-san!”

He dismisses the bow and turns around to call his mom outside of the gym. She hasn't left home to work yet, and the shelter is not so far from where she has to go anyway.

She comes by fifteen minutes later, and Mori takes the cat to her.

*

“Yaku-san is so nice!”

“Yeah.” Kenma agrees in auto-pilot. 

“That's the ninth time you say that today, though, Lev.” Kuroo smiles before biting his lunch. 

“It's just! He doesn't makes fun of me for bringing stray cats to the practice…”

“You could repay him by cutting out the height jokes.” Kenma offers, eyes still focused on his PSP.

“Kenma, eat.” Kuroo stuffs some of his food on Kenma’s mouth.

He stops playing to glare.

Kuroo smiles.

Lev feels a shiver run down his spine.

“Eek! I’m gonna take a wa-” He sees Yaku walking by distracted, his hands inside the pockets of his jacket. “Yaku-san!”

Lev walks (runs) his way (away from Kuroo and Kenma).

“Hey Lev.” Yaku greets him, surprised. “The cat is fine, by the way. They called me from the shelter, we can go see him after practice.”

“Sure! Thanks again, Yaku-san!”

*

Mori has to wait for Lev after practice, being a lot faster and less clumsy than Lev is.

“Say, Yaku-san… Do you have cats?” The question pops up from Lev after they turn the schools corner.

“Why do you ask, Lev?”

He answers with another question not because he’s avoiding the topic, but mostly, he is.

“Ah, it's just… you know this shelter, and they even have your number? Also, you never make fun of me for picking cats on the street, or bringing them to practice. You also have a good way with them, remember that one which wouldn't stop scratching me but you managed him pretty well?”

Mori watches Lev rambling with a little endearment on his eyes. It's actually pretty easy to avoid questions he doesn't want to answer when the person making them is Lev. Still, it's quite adorable how it works every time.

“Yes, I do. How could I forget your face all scratched because of a thing smaller than your dumb hands?” Mori laughed heartily, and Lev shut up after that.

Again with his face all flushed red.

“What I mean is… I guess… Thank you, Yaku-san.”

Lev has stopped walking, and Mori turns to see him bowing. He takes back a few steps and tries to mask his surprise the best he can. Maybe he was treating Lev too hard to obtain this kind of reaction from him.

“Don't sweat it.” Mori bumps his side into Lev’s, smiling. “People might think you're learning to respect your senpai, Lev.”

The taller boy scratched his neck and gave a small laugh. A light blush colors his cheeks.

They arrive at a petshop, and Mori opens the door to Lev. “The shelter is behind it. They keep this shop to help the expenses, besides doing events to gather donations and other stuff.”

“So cool!” Lev squeals, and Mori can predict that’s not the last time Lev visits the place.

The cat looks good, after all, and the shelter is going to take care of him.

“But if you know someone who might want him later, Mori-san, you can call us.” The man behind the shop’s counter says playfully.

Lev’s face lits up.

“Mori-san?”

“Don’t.”

“Sorry.” Lev apologises, but he’s smiling. “Yaku-san. But you know, he’s quite good with cats! Maybe it’s how close he is to them, on the fl-”

There. Mori couldn’t slack a single day without having to deal with a new way of Lev implying his height was too damn small. He was kicking Lev’s ass before he could finish his stupid line, eyes closed and head throbbing.

“Thanks again, Kenji-san.” He says to the shop’s worker and turns to leave.

“You okay there, bud?” 

“Haha yeah don’t worry, it happens frequently. Yaku-san, wait!”

He doesn't. But his steps aren't as fast as they could be, too.

*

By the end of the week, Mori’s phone rings in the middle of practice.

“Sorry.” He mumbles, just a little worried. No one ever calls him, especially not when he's at school. 

“No problem, man!”

He sees the caller ID and looks back to the team.

“Gotta answer this, it's my mom.”

Everyone nods, and Mori heads to the gymnasium door.

“Hello?”

“Mori-chan, sorry for calling now, I didn't want to disturb you, but Mochi is missing.”

“Again?” Mori sighs, feeling like a tired old parent of a rebellious teenage daughter.

“Yeah. Don't worry, I just had to let you know. We’ll tell if she appears, but if she doesn't…”

“Sure. I’ll look for her after school. I… can skip practice, too. Thanks, mom.”

“She’ll be back before that. Have a nice day! Bye!”

He messes his hair with both hands, obviously worried. No matter how rebellious little Mochi was, he loved her - probably he loved her more because of it, too.

Lev was also “missing”, but he usually was late for morning practices. Kenma apparently had talked with him already, anyway.

So, Yaku Morisuke was pretty chill today.

The team sent worried looks his way, and he dismissed them with a thumbs up, going to his water bottle and remembering to turn the volume of his cellphone off.

Mori heard the familiar “Yaku-san!” being shouted and he turned to Lev’s direction.

He had a cat in his arms, obviously.

“I’m sorry I’m so late!!” Lev bowed, but his smile was wide. “I had a hard time making this princess warrior here trust me! She was up a big three and lost, but she has identification!”

The cat meows and tries to escape Lev’s arms, because she finally sees him.

“Mochi!” Mori laughs, opening his arms to her. “You can let her, Lev.”

Lev complies, even if a bit slow because he's clearly surprised. Mochi runs into his open arms and nests herself on Mori’s left shoulder, carefully stroking her head into his cheek.

The whole team watches, stunned.

“She's mine.” He announces, half-laughing.

“No shit.” Kuroo replies, instantly. 

“I noticed.” Kenma answers flatly, but there's a hint of a smile on his face.

It takes everyone ten seconds to be surrounding Mori and Mochi. Eight seconds for Lev, who's the first to stroke her fur with shiny eyes.

“I didn't know you had pets, Mo-Yaku. San.”

“Yeah. I do.”

“No shit.” Kuroo repeats, apparently being the most surprised one.

“I kinda suspected.” Kenma shrugs, running his fingers through Mochi’s fur.

A long debate about Kenma’s observation ability started, Kuroo being the only one to seat and watch, while Mori drifted his attention back to Mochi.

“Do not think you're free from the lecture, little miss. How many times I told you not to follow me?”

Someone inhaled deeply near him, and Mori looked up to a very blushed Lev.

“Oh, thanks for rescuing her, Lev.”

“R-right. It’as nu-fin.” 

“What?”

“Adorable.” Lev blushed deeper, stuttering. “Mochi. Is adorable. No trouble at all. Glad to help.”

“Okay… uh. Kuroo, I should take her home now. I’ll stay longer tonight to compensate.”

“You don't have to, Yaku.” Kuroo blinked, already ushering the team back to practice.

“I will.” He made it clear before turning to the door.

Lev reached him at the dressing room. He was panting, and Mochi hurled herself around Lev’s left ankle. He smiled softly before turning his eyes to Mori.

“Uh, Yaku-san! Can I go, too? I have to practice… receives, so I’ll stay later on, too. I can make you company now.”

“Kuroo…” Mori started, but Lev cut him.

“I already asked!”

“Well, then, thanks. Again.”

Lev’s smile reached his eyes.

They walked side by side, with Mochi on Mori’s arms, eyeing Lev suspiciously. 

“Uh, I have to scold her. Otherwise she'll do it everyday.”

“Oh, sure, go ahead!”

He did the whole routine, forgetting Lev was there watching it the whole time. Mori pulled Mochi to look her straight in the eyes, he hugged her and pressed her head, messing with her fur. He made his “I Am Very Disappointed In You” tone of voice. He flicked her ears, and caressed her tummy. He made sure to look very displeased the whole time.

He wasn't the best at scolding Mochi, but it always worked well enough.

“How did you find her, anyway?” Mori asked, turning to Lev and watching the taller boy look the other way.

His neck was kind of pink, Mori could tell. What's up with russians DNA, he wondered.

“I… She’s white.”

Mori waits, but nothing else comes from Lev, and they end up just staring at each other.

“Well. Yeah…”

Lev seems to realize he still has to finish his line of thought, and he stumbles.

“Ah! Right, uh, the white fur, it attracted my attention, because, you know, it was right in the middle of so many green leafs. She was right around the school’s corner.”

“She must have followed me… naughty little thing.” Mochi purred against his chest, content. Mori pressed his chin against her head, caressing it. “She’s a Turkish Angora. Beautiful, right?”

“Yes! I had never seen a cat like her!”

“That’s why we haven’t lost her yet. She’s pretty recognizable.” He laughed, warm swelling on his chest.

Lev let out a low grunt, coming in a high pitch, and the next thing he knew the tall clumsy half-russian was hugging him, and Mochi, in a tight and warm embrace.

“L-lev!”

“Yaku-san! It’s too cute!”

His whole face burned, pressed against Lev’s chest, while the idiot kouhai pressed his face against Mori’s hair.

“Lev!” He shouted, this time more imposingly.

“I’m sorry!” Lev shouted back, finally pulling away. “It was way too much to handle, Yaku-san!”

He doesn’t asks what was too much. He focus on cooling his blood. Lev is, thankfully, embarrassed as well, but there’s a smile on his face and even though they don’t exchange a single word after that, Mori can’t stop the warmth that insists on creeping all over his face.

Checking his cellphone, he mutters: “If we hurry, we might make it to class in time. I’ll just drop her inside and grab some water.”

Lev waits for him at the gate, contently. Mori scoffs, unsure why Lev’s weirdness makes him feel endearment.

He brings back a waterbottle and hands it to Lev, already rushing back to Nekoma. Lev follows him easily, and suddenly Mori is running.

“Since we skipped practice!” He shouts, and that’s what he tells himself this is.

Just compensation for the missed practice.

*

Something is different and he knows it and that is exactly why he never told anyone he had a cat. Well, lots of cats. Ten, at the moment, to be more precise. They knew about a single one and everything was already messed up.

Lev stops dropping innocent comments about Mori’s size, because Lev stops speaking in front of the libero to begin with. There’s always a shade of pink on his cheeks whenever they exchange glances and Mori is blaming the weather and Lev’s stupid DNA.

However, the clenching inside him couldn’t be so easily explained. So, that Wednesday morning, more than a week later, he actually felt relief when Lev came his way after the classes were over.

Things will be back to normal, now.

“Yaku-san! I was around, are you going to the dressing room already?”

“Yes, Lev.”

“Great. We can go together!”

Of course they could. Mori could finally breathe easy.

“Yaku-san… Is Mochi your only pet?”

Mori choked.

“Hm, no, I mean, uh…”

“I saw another cat by the window that day, at your house. It just had me wondering… I’d love to have a cat.”

“Why don’t you?” He managed to ask.

“My parents aren’t cat people, really.” Mori wrinkled his nose unwittingly at the statement, and Lev laughed. “I know, I know. They don’t enjoy pets in general, but they tried offering me a dog once. I did want a cat, and not any pet, so…”

“That’s shitty, Lev. I’m sorry.”

His face it up. “Thanks, Yaku-san! But it’s okay… I’ve been to the shelter a few times, actually, to visit Nika…”

“Nika?” Mori questioned, sighing immediately after. “Did you name the cat you rescued, Lev?”

“I did! Anyway, I have something for Mochi. I’d like to give it to her… If that’s okay with you.”

Oh no. That would lead to Lev finding out he had ten cats, and not two. But Lev enjoyed cats so much he probably wouldn’t judge him at all… And he couldn’t have a single one. Mori tried to imagine his life without his cats and he ended up pulling another face.

Lev read it wrongly, obviously enough.

“I’m sorry for asking! You don’t have to, of course, I’ll…”

“No. I mean, of course you can. Maybe this saturday, after practice? Is it okay for you?”

He managed to leave Lev at a loss for words.

“Y-yes! T-thanks, Yaku-san!”

“Ah, by the way… Don’t tell anyone, but I actually have a lot of cats. So if you’re planning to give anything edible to Mochi, make sure to bring a lot of it or we’ll have to deal with a gang of angry cats.”

*

Lev tried to make Mori tell him how many cats he had, beaming with excitement, but Mori bravely resisted.

He may have punched Lev’s arm once or twenty times.

Kenma watched them suspiciously.

Thankfully, Mori had other kouhai to worry about, even if Lev kept finding reasons to help them somehow.

“It's like he _enjoys_ the beating.” He hears Kuroo amazed whisper, close enough to him to be just Kuroo being careless.

Still, he pretends not to hear it.

“Then you’re not the only masochist here, Kuroo.” Kenma answers with the same amazement, that sounds a lot more sarcastic in his voice.

Mori chokes a laugh.

“Well, what can I do? I’ll have to sympathize with the guy now. _Kenma._ ” He adds the name with so many hidden meanings that Mori's caught up wondering.

What were they _really_ talking about, one could never know, not when it was Kuroo and Kenma. They made every sentence sound like a thousand different things, each on his own way.

Mori just wanted the practice to be over without Lev spilling what they were going to do next.

No way he’d end up with the whole Nekoma volleyball team at his house to pet his cats. That's what he was really worried about. Nothing else.

His heart is about to jump out of his body and give up on Mori when they finally reach the Yaku household. He thinks he’s going to faint, and Lev is suddenly quiet, and his “Tadaima!” is weak and his hands are trembling… But then, Shin is rubbing against his legs and Mori laughs.

All his anxiousness disappears after it.

“Shichan, this is Haiba Lev. Lev, this is Shin. He’s a…”

“Russian blue!! So beautiful, Yaku-san!” Lev bends down to extend his hand to Shin. The cat smells it, and a second later he’s rubbing his head against Lev’s hand.

Mori smiles tenderly. Of course. What was he even anxious about?

“He’s the youngest in the family, still adapting.”

“A brave little kitten, then. Nice to meet you, Shin-san.”

At that, Mori laughs. Lev’s not only talking to his cats, like Mori himself does, but he’s also using honorifics with them.

They go to the kitchen first, and Mori grabs them water while introducing Lev to Tora. More cats come, curious about the new human, and Mori has introduced half the cats of the family before he actually introduces his mom.

“So you’re the famous Lev.” His mom spills, and Mori feels his face heating. He laughs nervously. “Mori-c… Mori talks a lot about his team.” She adds, and he finds an excuse to go to his room as fast as he can.

Lev is too busy with the cats for anything else, apparently.

They end up spending the rest of the day on his room’s floor, with the cats, playing with them - and the new toy Lev brought. Mori tells all the stories he has about his cats, like how Nobu and Yuki tried every wardrobe in the house when they first arrived, settling on Mori’s at the end and never again climbing any other. 

Lev listens and reacts at the right times, in all the right ways. They ease into one another, and it’s pleasant. Practice has worn them off and Mori’s almost falling asleep with his head pressed against the wardrobe when his mom calls them to dinner.

That does the trick, and Lev excuses himself short after. Mori takes him to the door and Lev bows.

“Thanks for the hospitality!” 

“Well… now you know the way, right? Sorry, I have no idea why I am this tired.”

“Rest, Yaku-san. See you monday.”

“See you, Lev.”

He sleeps with something lighter inside him.

*

Lev finds excuses to visit him a lot after that. From homework to practice, all it takes is a new photo of one of his cats, and Lev is saying “I’m having trouble with this one thing in class”, and even when Mori has no idea what he’s talking about, he lets Lev go home with him. Their evenings are pleasant, and his family doesn’t mind - they now know about Lev’s love for cats, and are horrified by the fact his parents don’t let him have one.

The next Saturday the team eat together after practice, and somehow he ends up the same way as past Saturday: on his room’s floor, with his cats and Lev, playing and talking and snoozing on something more smooth than his wardrobe. It doesn’t surprises him anymore how his cats are at ease around Lev.

“You can sleep here.” Mori mumbles, and the surface shifts.

“I have to go home! Sorry, Yaku-san, but my parents…”

He opens his eyes groggily and notices the “smooth surface” is actually Lev.

“Oh, sorry…” He straightened himself, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll walk you, then.”

“No, go to bed. I’ll see myself out.”

Mori snoozes again, probably, because suddenly he’s been supported by Lev’s arms. Lev helps him to bed, tucking him in, and he’s too tired and warm to be ashamed of anything. Lev lingers, his arms supporting him on the bed, and Mori opens his eyes to ask what’s wrong - the question, however, dies in his throat.

Lev is pressing his mouth on Mori’s, and his eyes fall shut once again.

This time, with silver hair and green eyes imprinted on them.

*

They don’t talk about it. Nothing really changes. Well, almost nothing. Something clicked and Mori can’t go back. He’s punching Lev weaker than he used to, maybe, and Lev is fidgeting.

He doesn’t asks for help with neither studies nor volleyball. He’s probably giving himself and Mori some time to think about everything.

And Mori does. He thinks about how he never thought about it, and how he can’t stop thinking about it now. He thinks about Lev’s arms tucking him into bed, and Lev’s lips brushing against his. He thinks about how hot his face felt after Lev left, and how he slept with his finger brushing his lips. He thinks about Lev’s touch, and how caring he acts with all the cats... and Mori.

It’s Saturday again, and somehow he doesn’t want to end this new found tradition between them. If Lev regrets it, he doesn’t tell. He’s not avoiding Mori - he’s giving him space. Space that Mori doesn’t want anymore.

Mori gathers the courage and walks to Lev’s locker inside their dressing room, towel around his neck, and he bumps his shoulder against Lev’s left arm very carefully.

Lev yelps slightly, and Mori laughs.

“Yaku-san…” Lev breaths out, relieved.

Mori looks up and smiles.

“Mochi misses you.”

A dark red blush flushes Lev’s cheeks. It finally makes sense, and Mori barely thinks about the DNA thing anymore. Lev stammers.

“I-I could visit… her… t-today.”

“... If you want to.” He adds, just in case.

“Yes.” Lev answers with conviction.

Mori’s cheeks feel hot, but he’s still smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it ^^  
> Tell me what you thought of it, if you'd like to read something else on this au, anything, you can also find me on twitter as @[rooxynroll](http://twitter.com/rooxynroll) and on [tumblr](http://rooxyandroll.tumblr.com/).  
> see ya :3  
> xx


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